The present invention relates to a denture attachment structure or anchor for anchoring a denture in an oral cavity, and to a method for securing the structure to an existing tooth or teeth.
In our U.S. Pat. No. 4,547,159 to the same Applicants which is entitled "Snap-In Anchor for Denture," filed on Dec. 19, 1984, an anchor is described which comprises a pin member secured to a denture and a channel member retained in an existing tooth. The pin member has a ball at one end which is a snap-fit in a correspondingly shaped socket at the end of the channel member. The pin member is a frictional sliding fit in the channel member and is retained in place by the resilient side walls of the channel member. The arrangement allows limited side to side movement of the denture to accommodate jaw motions so as to reduce the stress on the tooth or teeth to which the denture is anchored.
In other denture attachment structures the securing means usually involves a groove or channel formed in a ceramic or metal crown cemented on the existing teeth and a matching tongue or pin built into the denture, which slides into the channel as the denture is fitted. An attachment of this type is show, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,362,509 of Sulc. This type of attachment is fairly expensive and often involves resilient inserts to allow very limited movement of the denture. The inserts are subject to wear.